Immanuel Quickley's clutch play proves he's still got the magic Raptors fans crave

There's just something about this Charlotte Hornets team, huh? They've proven to be quite the tough opponents for the Raptors this season. Coming into their January 7 matchup, they had the upper hand, thanks to two recent wins — a wild OT comeback on November 29 and a blowout on December 5.

And wouldn't you know it, the Raptors and Hornets matchup turned out to be another tight, competitive battle, coming right down to the wire — until a certain Raptors guard delivered the dagger in enemy territory to seal the deal in an entertaining finish: Immanuel Quickley called game.

Immanuel Quickley secures game-winner for Raptors in tight battle vs. Hornets

After LaMelo Ball swung the game in Charlotte’s favor with a made basket with just 1.6 seconds to go, the Raptors had to come up with something to secure the win. Big man Sandro Mamukelashvili found Immanuel Quickley trying to get into his shooting space, and IQ was able to catch the ball and let the Jimmy fly (as Jack Armstrong would put it). The shot sent the Raptors bench and broadcast into a frenzy — heck, even the Charlotte broadcast team went wild.

Toronto raised their hands in victory, toppling the Hornets with a final score of 97-96, and ended their four-game season series with Charlotte at two wins each. As a result, the Raptors' winning streak also extends to three, after pulling off back-to-back wins over Atlanta in their last two games.

On a night when referee calls were questionable, losing Brandon Ingram to an untimely injury, and struggling to find a consistent shooting rhythm, finishing the game at a rough 20.6 percent from three — Toronto only needed one shot to settle the score. Luckily, Immanuel Quickley got the job done, considering many Raptors fans have been craving to see Immanuel Quickley show up in big moments like this.

Last season, I was keeping IQ on close watch as a possible guy to slot into that role. Even after bringing in Brandon Ingram, who had his own clutch moment earlier in the season against the Pacers, there’s still a lot of potential in IQ’s shooting ability to come through in the clutch like this. The only issue Raptors fans have had to deal with for a good part of the year has been IQ’s streaky shooting stretches and the growing perception that if he can’t get you buckets, he isn’t quite the impact player this team needs.

But in moments like these, you can really see where Immanuel Quickley's presence on the floor as one of their more offense-heavy threats can be the turning point in a win. Yes, we’ve seen more often than not how IQ’s underwhelming and inconsistent production can be frustrating, but a big shot like this could be the motivation he needs to get back on track.

I’ll always question whether the money tied up to IQ hampers his value and impact, but you’ve got to tip the cap here — especially when you consider it wasn’t even that long ago when IQ was taken off the floor because he was hurting the team with little impact, getting benched in favor of a flourishing Jamal Shead. And thinking back to the haunting half-court game-winner Jeremy Lamb got on the Raptors years ago, it’s nice to see someone on Toronto’s side paying back the favor on rival turf.